2020 USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines

Pumpkin spice lattes are officially back in season, and it’s hard to believe the holidays are already around the corner. 2020 sure flew by (thankfully—sheesh)! This year, eCommerce sellers and shippers need to gear up for one of the busiest, tightest holiday shipping schedules of all time. So, without further ado, here are the USPS 2020 holiday shipping deadlines. These dates represent the Postal Service’s cut-off day that you need to ship by in order for your package to arrive on or before December 24th.

USPS 2020 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

Before we start, you’ll notice that some of these domestic deadlines are a bit earlier than last year’s. This is because USPS has added in a couple of extra days of “padding” for each service to account for the widespread package delays the organization is experiencing across its network.

Domestic Packages

United States and All US Territories

• First-Class Mail (including First-Class Package): December 18
• Priority Mail: December 19
• Priority Mail Express: December 23
• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): December 15
• Alaska to Mainland First-Class Mail: December 18
• Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail: December 19
• Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail Express: December 21
• Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail & First-Class Mail: December 15
• Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail Express: December 21

International Packages

Note that the cut-off dates for Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) are currently pending for all international destinations. We will provide updates as we receive them.

Africa

• First-Class Package International: November 30
• Priority Mail International: November 30
• Priority Mail Express International: December 7
• Global Express Guaranteed: Pending

Asia/Pacific Rim

• First-Class Package International: December 7
• Priority Mail International: December 7
• Priority Mail Express International: December 14
• Global Express Guaranteed: Pending

Australia/New Zealand

• First-Class Package International: December 7
• Priority Mail International: December 7
• Priority Mail Express International: December 14
• Global Express Guaranteed: Pending

Canada/Caribbean/Europe/Mexico/Middle East

• First-Class Package International: December 7
• Priority Mail International: December 7
• Priority Mail Express International: December 14
• Global Express Guaranteed: Pending

Central and South America

• First-Class Package International: November 30
• Priority Mail International: November 30
• Priority Mail Express International: December 7
• Global Express Guaranteed: Pending

Military Mail Addressed To/From (APO/FPO/DPO)

AE ZIPs 090-092

• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): November 6
• Space Available Mail: November 27
• Parcel Airlift Mail: December 4
• Priority Mail: December 11
• First-Class Mail: December 11
• Priority Mail Express Military Service: December 18

AE ZIP 093

• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): November 6
• Space Available Mail: November 27
• Parcel Airlift Mail: December 4
• Priority Mail: December 9
• First-Class Mail: December 9
• Priority Mail Express Military Service: N/A

AE ZIPs 094-098

• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): November 6
• Space Available Mail: November 27
• Parcel Airlift Mail: December 4
• Priority Mail: December 11
• First-Class Mail: December 11
• Priority Mail Express Military Service: December 18

AA ZIP 340

• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): November 6
• Space Available Mail: November 27
• Parcel Airlift Mail: December 4
• Priority Mail: December 11
• First-Class Mail: December 11
• Priority Mail Express Military Service: December 18

AP ZIPs 962-966

• Retail Ground (Parcel Select Ground): November 6
• Space Available Mail: November 27
• Parcel Airlift Mail: December 4
• Priority Mail: December 11
• First-Class Mail: December 11
• Priority Mail Express Military Service: December 18

Learn more about shipping to military addresses.